Hey, I'm back! God its been a busy few weeks. Working full time, trying to get a social life and studying the equivalent of a 4 year degree with a time limit of a year is a lot of work...
Not to mention playing FGO, Genshin, Honkai and Nikke...
Well, anyway...
581, they are involved indeed. Look forward to it.
keybladelight, yes Zouken is dead. I will not do a lemon, unfortunately. I can't do them.
sUbSoNiCSoundwave, glad you found how I had the team deal with Zouken to be satisfactory.
S0LARIS, hopefully you'll have finished up to this chapter.
Toa Solaric, you'll find out why Waver and Gray are going to Japan for soon. But for now, we'll have a filler chapter followed by the Illya part of the story.
kgtab, Gray meeting the Artorias is something I want to write, have been for a while. As for Shirou having problems with Caliburn, he doesn't have any, just that the purpose of the sword won't apply to him.
In this story at least, UBW lets him draw the experiences of the original wielders. Thus he can sort of bypass some of the requirements.
ErwinG'Arc, well unfortunately for you, we will be seeing them.
TheEmeraldMage, thanks for the review.
Phantom117a, Digitalreaper360, yep, Waver and Gray will be having a very fun trip.
ashylabto, Fanfictionman43, codywhite162, thanks hahaha.
Nameless, I've been rather burnt out lately, so I have no idea when the next omake will be. I'm in Aus, and fortunately FGO is still listed on the country store. So yeah I can top up. I guess I can't do so for the JP version though.
And yes, I saw Rasputin being released. I'll worry about him when he comes, for now I just need Morgan and Melusine, and then Charlemagne hahaha.
So yeah, here we go. It's a chapter that's way overdue.
XXX
Inside Shirou's Unlimited Blade Works, all of them watched as Shirou and Saber Artoria traded blows.
Much to their surprise, particularly Mordred, Sakura and Rin, the redhead was keeping up, if only barely.
The young man was repeatedly casting Time Alter to boost his speed, dodging almost every slash and thrust from the Servant.
Saber Artoria, on the other hand, simply tanked through most if not all of his attacks.
It was a sight to behold, for the redhead was constantly moving with Kanshou and Bakuya in hand.
The two swords constantly broke, but they simply reappeared in his hands as if they didn't break in the first place.
Saber Artoria thinned her lips as she blocked yet another strike from Shirou, and she let out a Mana Burst, blowing the young man away.
Yet again, Shirou quickly regained his balance and got to his feet, lowering his body as he dashed forward again.
But this time, instead of charging in with both swords, the redhead grabbed a gun from the ground, swapping from Kanshou.
A random automatic SMG, and as he moved in, aimed and pulled the trigger.
Saber Artoria narrowed her eyes as she used the Excalibur to block those bullets. Loud clangs reached her ears from the bullets striking the blade, but she didn't let it deter her.
"Set: Triple Accel."
Shirou's figure blurred slightly as he positioned himself to behind the King of Knights, Bakuya poised to strike.
Saber Artoria's lips thinned, and she unleashed a Mana Burst, pushing Shirou back slightly. But she wasn't done.
Turning to face her Master, the blonde pulled her concealed sword back and levelled it horizontally, the tip pointed forwards.
"Strike... AIR!"
The blonde thrust her now revealed blade forward, unleashing a giant blast of wind in the form of a hurricane.
Shirou grunted as he regained his footing, and he quickly dropped his gun, "I am the Bone of my Sword..."
Six petals appeared in front of him.
"RHO..."
The flower bloomed, forming six shields before him.
"AIS!"
The blast of air struck the six layered shield, holding firmly against the attack.
The blast quickly died down, and Shirou didn't let the chance slip away as he willed for several dozen swords around them to move.
Every single one of them responded, for dozens upon dozens of swords shot out from the ground, shooting at Saber Artoria.
The blonde king's eyes widened, and her sword blurred, parrying every blade that came at her. But Shirou didn't stop there.
With his gun and sword in hand, the young man dashed forward as the blades around him rained down upon the blonde king.
Swords and bullets flew, as Shirou constantly unleashed attack upon attack on the King of Knights.
If the weapons weren't raining down on Saber Artoria, the redhead would be attacking her with his gun and Bakuya, and occasionally one of the firearms in the Reality Marble would fire at her.
It was as if she was fighting Kiritsugu, Gilgamesh and Archer at the same damn time, all mashed into the form of her Master.
Saber Artoria's eyes widened. That was it.
That was the answer Shirou was giving her.
Her Master wasn't his father, not an assassin, and he wasn't a knight either. He was one that stood in the middle of all that.
The King of Knights caught a glimpse of Shirou's eyes as she weaved through the barrage of swords and bullets, and she understood.
There was no way anyone could fake the look in their eyes when in battle, not one like that, unless they were extremely skilled in acting.
Her Master was not one of them, and he was giving everything he had.
Thus, she must answer that resolve by giving everything she had in this duel too.
Saber Artoria parried another slash from Bakuya, before narrowly dodging a barrage of bullets from the gun in Shirou's other hand as she backed away.
Not wanting to let up, a dozen swords moved to the young man's will, raining down on the blonde king, only for her to back away once more.
But that was as far as Saber Artoria was going to allow her Master to push her, as she instantly spun, parrying the rest of the weapons sent at her.
Taking a deep breath, the King of Knights spoke, "This is the breath of the planet."
Magical energy filled her body, concentrating on the Excalibur as the blade took on a bright golden hue.
That glow was the hope of planet.
The hue turned into a blinding light.
The proof of life which illuminated the land.
Saber Artoria raised her sword, as the blade exploded with a large torrent of light, a firm expression on her face.
Shirou's jaw tightened, and he started to project his father's gun, intent on using his Reality Marble as a bullet.
"Emiya Shirou, use this!"
The redhead turned to his older alternate self, only to blink as he caught a sword in his hands, the very same one they were all talking about mere moments ago.
Shirou furrowed his eyes, he could use it, he knew.
But it wouldn't be the same, the meaning, the purpose of the sword was lost on him alone.
The young man turned his gaze back on Saber Artoria, energy still welling up around her own blade, an expecting look in her eyes despite not stopping in her movements.
The redhead tightened his jaw, and he made his decision.
Bakuya and his gun fell to the ground as the young man gripped the sword with both hands, "O Sword of Selection, watch over me..."
A similar golden hue engulfed the sword, much to everyone's surprise, and Mordred's shock.
That was the sword as the once and future king.
The hue turned into a bright aura that barely contained itself around the sword, and Shirou took a stance, holding it back behind in preparation.
"EX..."
"Cleave the wicked..."
"CALIBUR/CALIBURN!"
Both swung their swords, unleashing two blinding pillars of light that immediately clashed against each other.
Everyone watching averted their eyes, and while it felt like eternity, the clash was over in an instant.
The glow died down, and everyone turned their eyes back to the battlefield.
Saber Artoria stood there on her feet, slightly roughed up from the clash.
Shirou, on the other hand, was on one knee, the copy of Caliburn having shattered from the overload.
Archer hummed, "The duel is over."
Rin blinked, "E-eh?!"
Shirou nodded, wincing in pain as he did, "Yeah... It's my loss."
Saber Artoria nodded, and she walked towards her Master, pulling him to his feet, "And I've seen what I wanted to see, you are not Kiritsugu, no, you are far different from him."
A small smile plastered her face, "It was an honorable duel, and I am honored to call you my Master, Shirou."
Shirou sighed in exasperation as Avalon did its work, "If you're satisfied, then I guess I can't complain."
The redhead let his Reality Marble fade away, revealing the dojo in perfect condition aside from the few smudges on the floor.
Rin blinked, "So... it's over?"
Shirou nodded, "Yeah, and I am dead tired... and hungry."
He glanced at the others, "Who wants early lunch?"
(Linebreak)
After making everyone lunch, Shirou decided to go out to buy some groceries, and Rin decided to tag along with Archer while the others cleaned up.
As the three walked along the streets, the redhead asked, "So, why's Sakura calling you Nee-san?"
The twin tailed girl let out a breath, "Right, we said we'd tell you."
Rin sighed, "Sakura's my younger sister."
Shirou blinked, "Sister? I'm sorry, what?"
Archer snorted, "Right, I forgot there was that bit too."
The twin tailed girl spoke, "Sakura's not Matou by blood, my father sent her to the Matou family hoping she'd get a better life there since I'm the heir to our family."
The Servant chuckled, "And look where that got us."
Rin glared at him, "Shush you."
Shirou hummed, "So that's why..."
The twin tailed girl nodded, "Yep, and well, we managed to talk things out last night, thanks to you I guess."
The redhead blinked, "Me?"
Rin nodded, "If it wasn't for you taking down Zouken, I doubt she'd be able to speak her mind. So thank you."
Shirou smiled and shook his head, "No need to thank me, anyone would've done it."
Archer scoffed, "Not everyone would willing throw themselves at Matou Zouken of all people."
The younger self chuckled, "Look who's talking."
Rin furrowed her eyebrows, "Am I missing something?"
Archer shook his head, "No."
He looked at the two younger people, "Speaking of which, what are your plans moving forward? We've defeated Matou Zouken, but we still have Caster, Berserker, Assassin and not to mention the King of Heroes."
Shirou hummed, "I want to talk things out with Illya first, then we can go after Caster and find Assassin."
Rin nodded, "Good idea. But we don't need to rush things, we have the advantage."
Archer snorted, "We have ten freaking Servants on our side, of course we do."
The redhead nodded in agreement, "Which is why I'm thinking of getting everyone to take a break."
Rin and Archer both looked at him with confused faces, "A break?"
Shirou nodded, a smile growing on his face, "And I have just the place in mind."
The two just blinked at his growing smile.
Later that afternoon, the group found themselves in an indoor water park.
Rin looked around in nostalgia, "Shinto Pool, it's been ages since I've been here."
Sakura glanced at Shirou, "Senpai, how did you manage to get tickets for all of us? Especially without pre-booking them."
Shirou grinned, "Well, I managed to get Fuji-nee's grandfather to pull some strings to get us some tickets."
Both Rin and Sakura blinked, "Fujimura-sensei's grandfather?"
Archer sighed, "Don't ask, that's hell you're walking into."
The white haired man glanced around, "Still, I'm more impressed you managed to get a swimsuit for everyone here, Sakura."
Archer Artoria and Rider Artoria both already had swimsuits, so Sakura had to bring the others shopping for a swimsuit before heading over to the water park.
Saber Artoria wore a simple white bikini, while Heroine X wore something similar except there were blue highlights.
Caster Artoria, on the other hand, had a light blue one piece swimsuit, and X Alter wore a grey one piece swimsuit.
As for Lancer Artoria, she wore a tight white one piece swimsuit with a white hat, while Mordred wore a red bikini.
The purple haired girl giggled, "Well, it was out of the blue. I'm pretty sure Senpai won't have any for them, and Nee-san won't have enough at home."
Archer nodded, "Hmm, if it were Rin, she'd spend hours trying them on at the store instead of helping the others choose. You would do well to learn from your sister."
The girl in question closed her eyes, doing her best to not act on her anger, "Is that so?"
The white haired man simply smirked as he walked away, leaving his Master to fume.
Sakura giggled, "Just let it go, we're here to relax."
Rin let out a deep sigh, "Fair enough, it's not like anyone else will be dumb enough to attack us."
She paused, before adding, "Hopefully."
The two sisters glanced at Shirou, and the twin tailed girl spoke, "Sakura and I will be heading for the water slides, call us if you need us?"
Shirou waved them off, "Sure, go ahead."
Archer snorted, "I'll be around if you need me then."
The three walked off, before Medusa spoke up, "I wish to explore the area myself as well, if that's fine."
The redhead scratched his head, "Well, I don't mind, maybe ask Sakura?"
The purple haired woman nodded and chased after her Master, leaving the seven Kings, their 'son', and Master standing near the entrance.
Caster Artoria asked, "Sooo, what do we do first?"
Shirou smiled, "We have a number of things we can do, how about we take a look first?"
(Linebreak)
After a short while, Shirou stood at the side of a pool with his feet dipped in the water.
The young man watched Archer Artoria and Rider Artoria having a competition in the form of one on one water blitz, and Mordred was in the middle trying to get in on the fun.
Shirou sighed as them fired their Noble Phantasms against each other, "This is gonna end well."
He glanced at a side to see Heroine X, X Alter and Caster Artoria relaxing on a float each.
"Shirou."
The redhead turned to see Lancer Artoria and Saber Artoria, the latter having a complicated expression on her.
Shirou greeted, "Hey, where'd you two go?"
The busty blonde smiled, "We just walked around."
The redhead nodded, "I see."
Lancer Artoria's smile turned into a sly one, "Speaking of which, what do you think of our swimsuits?"
Shirou blinked, "Eh?"
The redhead's mind froze for a brief second, before he answered without much thought, "It looks good I guess, fits the two of you nicely."
The older blonde was surprised by the answer, and a small blush made itself apparent on her face, something mirrored by her younger self, though for slightly different reasons.
Lancer Artoria took a moment to recompose herself, before she smiled, "I see, good to know."
Saber Artoria, on the other hand, kept quiet, not knowing how to react, especially when she was still coming to terms with her current attire.
Shirou scratched his head, "W-well... Let's join the others?"
The two blondes nodded, only for the younger king to pause, much to the redhead's confusion, "What's wrong, Saber?"
The shorter blonde saw the pool, an uncomfortable expression on her face, "... I can't swim."
A look of realization appeared on Lancer Artoria's face, "Right, there was that issue too."
The older king glanced at a side, where Mordred was standing awkwardly, before she sighed, "Shirou, you mind teaching Saber how to swim? I'll be fine with Mordred."
Shirou blinked, "Huh? Sure, I guess."
Lancer Artoria nodded and walked over to Mordred, and the redhead looked at the younger version of the Servant, "So, shall we make a start?"
Saber Artoria pursed her lips, "... Yes."
Shirou looked around the water park, "Hmm, I guess we can start in the shallower pools first."
The blonde just nodded along, and they walked off.
With Lancer Artoria and Mordred, the busty blonde approached her 'son', "Mordred."
The boastful knight straightened up, "Y-yes?"
The king asked, "Are you not going to follow your Master?"
Mordred blinked, "Huh?"
She blinked again, before quickly shaking her head, "No, I mean, she's spending time with her sister. That Archer is also watching over them, so it should be fine."
The older blonde studied her child's face, before she nodded, "A logical response, I suppose."
Lancer Artoria hummed, before she spoke again, "Walk with me."
The two walked along the poolside, ignoring the stares they were getting, and the king asked, "Mordred, why did you join the war?"
The younger blonde blinked, "Huh?"
Lancer Artoria glanced at her 'son', "What do you seek from the Holy Grail?"
Mordred thinned her lips, "Why do you care?"
The busty king sighed, "I will be frank with you. I do not hold any particular wish for the Grail, nor do most of my counterparts."
The Lancer stopped walking, and she turned to fully face her child, "Aside from Saber, all of us responded because of Shirou. What about you?"
Mordred looked away from her 'father', debating if she should confess her true wish for joining the war.
The older blonde studied her 'son's face, and she spoke again, "Do you wish to use the Grail to become king?"
Mordred's head snapped at her 'father', a serious expression on her face, "Of course not!"
Lancer Artoria raised an eyebrow, "Oh?"
The Knight of Rebellion furrowed her brows, "I would never disrespect the throne or you like that!"
The Lancer hummed, "Then why are you in this war? If not to be king."
Mordred didn't meet her gaze, "I want to have a go at the Sword of Selection."
The king blinked, "I beg your pardon?"
A small blush made itself apparent on the brutish blonde's face, "I want to try pulling out the Sword of Selection... to see if I really am not worthy of the throne or not."
Lancer Artoria blinked again as she processed the treacherous knight's words, and her expression softened, "I see."
A small smile appeared on the older blonde's face, "You would not use the Grail to become king, rather, you want the chance to become king."
Mordred's blush deepened, and she softly responded, "There wouldn't be a point in using the Grail to become king."
Lancer Artoria hummed, "I see. I can't say I don't see where you're coming from, I denied your chance to the throne, after all."
The younger blonde didn't respond, she didn't know how to.
The older blonde nodded, "When we have the chance, I shall ask Shirou to bring out his copy of the Caliburn."
Mordred's eyes widened, "W-what?"
Lancer Artoria stared at her 'son', "You're not wrong, you have a right to the throne. I still stand by my words, of course. But... the Sword of Selection is a far better judge than I am."
The younger blonde stared at her 'father' in shock, and she opened her mouth, only to close it again.
After a moment of silence, Mordred took a deep breath, "Why?"
Lancer Artoria raised an eyebrow, "Why? Why what?"
The knight of red furrowed her brows, "Why offer me the chance now?"
Mordred clenched her fists, "You never acknowledged me before. After everything now, why would you..."
Lancer Artoria regarded the younger blonde, and she was surprised her 'son' had not blown up, and instead opted to speak quietly as she was doing now.
The older blonde let out a breath, "Ever since you revealed yourself to me, I've never really thought about what you really were to me."
She turned to look at the pool, where everyone enjoyed themselves, "Mordred, you are Morgan's son, and at the same time, my own. At the time, my responsibilities as a king held precedence. I couldn't allow anything, especially not anything related to my sister, to distract me."
Mordred's eyes widened at her words, but the king continued, "You were one of my knights, one of my best. I didn't know, and didn't believe I could act as a father, not when I was king. All I could do was treat you as I would with our fellow Knights of the Round Table."
Mordred looked down, "I see."
The blonde king spoke, "Now, rather than using the Grail to become king, you want to use it to gain a chance at the throne."
She looked at Mordred in the eye, "That in itself speaks volumes of your character, Sir Mordred."
The Knight of Betrayal met her gaze, and for once, Mordred didn't see indifference in them, but something else, not care or fatherly love. Something simpler.
Something she had craved for a long time.
Attention. Awareness.
Mordred pursed her lips, "I see..."
The King of Knights spoke again, "If even after all that, all you would wish for is a chance, then it would be beneath me to deny you that right."
She looked at her 'son', "You wish to try to pull out the sword. Unless you travel back in time, the Grail would have to create an exact replica of Caliburn."
Mordred nodded, "That makes sense."
Lancer Artoria nodded, "Shirou has a copy, and while I don't believe it to be exactly the same, it is probably as close to the real thing as you can get, even from the Grail."
The boastful knight nodded silently, "I see..."
The two then stood in silence, taking in the sight of the water park around them.
Meanwhile, in another shallower pool, Shirou held Saber Artoria's hands as she tried to swim.
The blonde gasped for breath as she raised her head above the water, "... This is rather embarrassing, Shirou..."
The redhead chuckled, "Nothing to be embarrassed about. Everyone starts somewhere."
Saber Artoria sighed as she paddled her legs, pushing herself forward as Shirou slowly backed away while holding her hands, "I've always relied on my blessings from Lady Vivian for water-based combat. This is much... different."
Shirou chuckled, "I would imagine so. Now one more time."
The Servant simply nodded, before taking another deep breath as her head went under the water.
After a while, the pair sat on the poolside with their feet dipped in the water.
Saber Artoria let out a breath, "That was... an interesting experience."
Shirou smiled as he leaned back, "Did you enjoy yourself?"
The king nodded, "Very much so, thank you for taking the time to teach me."
The redhead chuckled, "Of course."
The two sat in comfortable silence, before Saber Artoria asked, "Shirou, did any of my other selves tell you of their wish for the Grail?"
Shirou blinked, "Huh? Not really, why?"
The blonde Servant looked at the water, "This is something Lancer brought up before, but I wish to hear your opinion on my wish."
The redhead blinked, "Sure I guess."
Saber Artoria nodded, and she began, "What do you know of my history?"
Shirou leaned back on his arms, "To sum things up quickly, you built a kingdom, led to the prosperity, and it fell apart from treachery."
The king nodded, "In a very brief nutshell, yes. In that case I shall skip the details."
Saber Artoria took a breath, "My wish for the Grail, is to save Britain."
Shirou blinked, "Britain...?"
The King of Knights nodded, "That's right. I regret what has transpired, and I wish to prevent the fall of my kingdom. I wish to undo my sins."
The redhead slowly nodded, "I see..."
Saber Artoria looked at her Master, "I've previously revealed my wish to Gilgamesh and the King of Conquerors, yet both rejected it."
The blonde king looked down, "They claimed I may have been a king, yet not once did I act like one. I never led my kingdom, I only saved them. Because of that, Britain fell."
Shirou studied the blonde. He knew what she was referring to.
He had seen it. Through the dreams they'd shared prior, and more importantly, through the memories he'd seen through both Caliburn and Excalibur.
The redhead took a breath, carefully considering his words, "It is not wrong to save others. It is never wrong to want to help others."
Shirou looked at Saber Artoria in the eyes, "You are not wrong in wanting to save the people that died. You feel responsible for their deaths."
The blonde nodded, "Yes, I do. It was because of my naivety that Britain fell."
The redhead shook his head, "You're wrong, Britain didn't fall."
Saber Artoria furrowed her brows, "What do you mean it didn't? It fell when I lost."
Shirou smiled softly, "Saber, Britain didn't fall. It still exists even now. It may have fallen under your rule, but the people of the country still got back up."
The blonde simply furrowed her brows even more, "I... don't understand."
The redhead looked up, "This is what I've been taught in history class. My history, and your future. The country now still stands. Of course, it is very different from you know, but it is still alive."
Shirou looked at her, "Britain is a country that has, one way or another, good or bad, influenced the entire world. That wouldn't have happened if you changed the past."
Saber Artoria froze.
The redhead looked forward, "Besides, I don't think Mordred, or any of your knights would be happy if they knew you were trying to change the past."
The blonde king frowned, "Mordred aside, my knights would surely understand my desire. They would definitely support me in saving the country."
Shirou drew upon the memories of the swords he, or rather, Archer had seen, "Are you sure? Your knights, your subjects adored you. Do you think they would blame you?"
Saber Artoria paused, and she genuinely thought about her fellow knights, and how they would react.
The blonde looked down, "So if it were you, you wouldn't want to change the past? You would let the innocent be involved in your sins and die without reason?"
The redhead shrugged, "I can't answer that question, not when I've not experienced anything like that."
Shirou looked at her in the eye again, "But... using the Holy Grail to change the past... I don't believe that's the best thing to do."
Saber Artoria furrowed her brows, "Why do you think so?"
The redhead scratched his neck, "Well... I guess... if you use the Grail to change the past, everything that you've built, the good you've done would be gone."
Shirou looked down, "Besides... I don't think it'll affect your reality."
The blonde stared at him, "You speak... as if you understand."
The redhead shook his head, "No, I don't understand, but..."
"He's talking about me."
The two turned to see Archer, his arms folded.
Saber Artoria blinked, "Archer..."
The older version of the redhead scoffed, "Quite the conversation you're having here."
The blonde king frowned, "What do you mean?"
Archer snorted humorlessly, "What your Master is saying, is that we both experienced a similar thing."
Saber Artoria frowned, "A similar... experience?"
Shirou nodded, "Archer wanted to erase his past, to prevent himself from making the same mistakes. That's why he joined the Holy Grail War."
Archer nodded, "In a way, my wish is the same as your own, Saber... no, King of Knights, Artoria Pendragon."
The blonde king furrowed her brows, "In that case-"
The white haired man cut her off, "The past I was trying to erase... is none other than the existence known as Emiya Shirou."
Saber Artoria's eyes widened, "W-what?"
Shirou looked at his Servant, "Archer... is my future alternate self."
Archer snorted, "In a nutshell, yeah."
Saber Artoria furrowed her brows, "Then you want to kill Shirou?"
Shirou shook his head, "Not anymore."
The white haired man smirked, "Not anymore, yes. Unfortunately for me, and most possibly you, the past cannot be changed so easily. Especially not through the Grail."
The blonde king frowned, "Why not? The Holy Grail is a wish granter, it is said to be omnipotent."
Archer pointed at her, "Said to be, not proven to be. You of all people should know what happened to the Grail ten years ago."
Saber Artoria fell silent, and Shirou nodded, "The fire."
Archer nodded in agreement, "The fire."
The white haired man scoffed, "Well, honestly you can do whatever. No one can stop you, and if the fire does end up happening again, I'll just bail."
Shirou glanced at him with a raised eyebrow, "You sure you'd bail?"
Archer shrugged, "Who knows? I don't have anything tying me down to this era anyway."
The white haired man glanced at Saber Artoria again, noticing her face, deep in thought, and he sighed, "Well, I'll leave you two to it. Unfortunately, that's enough serious talk for me today."
As Archer vanished into the crowd, Shirou glanced at Saber Artoria, "Saber."
The blonde king didn't respond, and was instead deep in thought. The reason was simple.
Whilst not knowing as much as she would like about her Master, she did see a dream.
A dream of a young boy stumbling through what could only be called hell. Yet, the soul of that same boy was totally different than what she'd expected.
The King of Knights took a deep breath, and she finally registered her Master calling out to her for the third time.
Shirou waved his hand in front of her, "Saber, you okay?"
Saber Artoria blinked, and she smiled softly, "Yes, I have a lot I need to think about now. Thank you, Shirou."
The blonde stood up, and she extended a hand to her Master, "Now, let us enjoy ourselves, you went out of your way to obtain those tickets, did you not?"
Shirou blinked at her change in demeanor, and he chuckled, "Alright."
He took her hand and got up, before going off to join his other Servants.
XXXX
DONE. That was a slightly shorter chapter than usual. Unfortunately...
But anyway, that's it for the chapter. The next one will be starting the Illya part of the story, and we'll see how Waver and Gray fit in all this.
Until then, read and review please.